U.S. President Donald Trump poses with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their first summit on Sentosa Island in Singapore, June 12, 2018. AP-Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

North Korea said Friday it will not talk with the United States if it sticks to hostile policies, casting doubt over the future of their denuclearization dialogue on the second anniversary of the first summit in Singapore between the leaders of the two countries.

In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Foreign Minister Ri Son-gon said the North would never again gift U.S. President Trump with high-profile meetings and concessions he could boast of as foreign policy achievements unless it "receives something substantial."

Ri said the North would instead build up its military force "to counter U.S. threats."

The statement comes after Pyongyang began ratcheting up its rhetoric and measures against both Seoul and Washington. This week, it severed all official cross-border communication lines with the South, and threatened to disrupt the U.S. presidential election in November if Washington did not stay out of inter-Korean affairs.

"The question is whether there will be a need to keep holding hands shaken in Singapore, as we see that there is nothing of factual improvement to be made in the DPRK-U.S. relations simply by maintaining personal relations between our supreme leadership and the U.S. President," Ri said. "Never again will we provide the U.S. chief executive with another package to be used for achievements without receiving any returns.